Please write a post that discusses your insights related to the film we watched together, How Do You Measure a Year. This is a reflection assignment. It requires that you look back on the experience and share what you found valuable or useful in this video. There is not a single correct answer, but rather there are many relevant answers. The specific depends on you.
This documentary that we watched in class was of a father who recorded his daughter, Ella, every year from age 2 to age 18 on her birthday. This 2021 documentary was very powerful to watch even though it was only thirty minutes long. It showed her growing up and maturing with all the different categories of Cognitive, Physical, Social, Emotional, and Intellectual development. It also made me quite emotional while watching this documentary because it reminded me of myself, my development and my conflicts with my parents. Ella also seemed very close to the same age as me due to a similar pop culture that I recognized.
It was also sort of jarring seeing the time pass so quickly between each age. When you’re growing up, you don’t realize how fast it actually goes and want to be older and be an adult sooner. Although, once you are an adult you almost miss being a kid with no responsibilities and dread getting older each year. This is something I’ve been reflecting on for awhile and watching this forced me to realize that life is super short even if at the present moment it doesn’t feel like it is.
Now to reflect on Ella’s growth throughout her childhood. I’ll be explaining things in different age brackets because some ages were pretty repeatable save for a couple of details.
2-4: At these ages Ella didn’t have any concept of social construct or really tangible answers. Most answers were ideas or things she has seen other adults she’s looked up to do. Such as her answer when asked “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and her answer was “I want to chew gum and wear makeup”. While this isn’t entirely wrong, it isn’t what the question was particularly asking which is what do you want your future career or job to be. At this age, Ella was also showing signs that she liked music by humming to herself, and also that she enjoyed treats and sweets such as lollipops.
5-9: While Ella was between these ages, she was rapidly understanding more social constructs and the world around her. She realized that she liked singing and wanted to be a singer when she is older. She is also very vocal about it and doesn’t hide or feel not confident about her singing.
10-12: Ella was starting to be more sarcastic in her remarks and started to roll her eyes at her dad more. Problems with her family and her dad also started to arise. She also said that she wanted to fit in more, but her comments also seemed like she was comfortable with the person she was.
13-14: During this time, Ella started to have more mood swings and really up days and really low days. We see on her 14th birthday she was super tired and almost seemed depressed. She was also still having problems with her dad and didn’t know why.
15-17: At this time, Ella seemed to develop a sense of who she was as a person and had more joy on her face. She also seemed more confident in herself and it showed that she definitely grew as a person.
18: At 18, a lot of things change in life. Ella makes a comment she’s going away to college. She seems to have matured far more than she was previously and was emotionally vulnerable on camera. This shows she was confident in who she was and she also was understanding more about her dad and restored her relationship with him. She thanked him for the tradition of videos throughout the years.
